The CPAP or Continuous Positive Airways Pressure machine was first developed by Dr Colin Sullivan and his team at RPA in 1980. This invention was the fruit of many long nights of work in the RPA lab and would become the prototype for the modern CPAP machine. The method of delivering pressurised air by a nasal mask was perfected over the next twelve months and the first patients started using CPAP machines regularly at home in 1981.

This was a significant advance in the treatment of sleep apnoea and has become the major form of treatment for the condition across the world.

– Associate Professor John Worthington, RPA Director of Stroke

Manufactured here in Sydney by two engineers W. (Bill) Bell and F.H (Ray) Kindred for Dr Thomas Greenaway, this X-ray machine provided an image on a fluorescent screen of the heart and lungs for size and health evaluation and required near total darkness to gain a clear image.

I believe it is an important, relevant part of manufacturing history in Australia. No complete X-ray unit has been manufactured here for decades.

– Colin Kindred, son of Ray Kindred

This machine was state of the art in the 1950s. The X-ray tube is not shielded therefore X-rays went through the masonite cabinet and exposed everyone in the room to radiation. The lead shutters were of limited protection as they were only intended to improve the image.
 

This oak reclining examination table on castors has an adjustable headrest, footrest, and back to provide a variety of patient positions. It contains three double sided drawers originally lined with glass and a through cupboard with a door either side of the table.